Modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination

ABSTRACT

Covers a modular slidable member, e.g., a drawer or shelf and mounting bracket combination which may be stacked upwardly or downwardly to provide a set comprising a plurality of slidably mounted slidable members, e.g., drawers or shelves. The novel brackets of the invention provide not only mounting means for the slidable member but also a framework which serves to hold a plurality of slidable members together.

United States' Patent 91 Barney [451 Apr. 24,1973

1 1 MODULAR SLIDABLE MEMBER AND MOUNTING BRACKET COMBINATION [76] Inventor: Jan Alan Barney, 6559 Northridge Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95120 22 Filed: May 17,1972 2'1 Appl. N0.: 254,030

[52] U.S.Cl. ..3l2/l07,312/108, 312/111,

312/330, 312/350 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47b 77/00 [58] Field of Search ..312/107, 108,111,

[5 6] I I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 495,934 4/1893 Foote ..312/330 X 3,433,547 3/1969 Hoaglund ..312/1 11 3,653,735 4/1972 Duepree ....3 12/330 3,698,782 10/1972 Onori .312/350 Primary Examiner-James C. Mitchell Attorney-Norman E. Reitz et a1.

57 ABSTRACT Covers a modular slidable member, e.g., a drawer or shelf and mounting bracket combination which may be stacked upwardly or downwardly to provide a set comprising a plurality of slidably mounted slidable members, e.g., drawers or shelves. The novel brackets of the invention provide not only mounting means for the slidable member but also a framework which serves to hold a plurality of slidable members together. 7

V 10 Claims, 3 Drawing F igures Patented April 24, 1973 28(TROUGH) 29 MODULAR SLIDABLE MEMBER AND MOUNTING BRACKET COMBINATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION There are a number of slidable members, e.g., drawers, shelves, and pull out writing surfaces commercially available which are mountable within a preexisting framework. The slidable members of the prior art are generally held between spaced upstanding support I members and generally there are horizontal top and bottom support members as well. Thus, in prior art constructions, one must, at the offset, decide how many slidable members he desires, then purchase or construct the support members, and then place the slidable members therewithin.

The prior procedure is not of particular advantage to, for example, the hobbyist or home workman, who may wish to start out with only a single slidable member and then expand as necessary the amount of slidable members which he has to hold his equipment, spare parts, and the like.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination, which does not need separate upstanding support members.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a modular slidable member and mounting bracket combinations which may be mounted below or above a substantially horizontal surface, e.g., a workshop table top.

A further object of the present invention is to provide modular slidable member and mounting bracket combinations wherein any parts contained therein are easily removable.

Still another object ofthe present invention is to provide a set of slidable members which may be expanded as desired by the addition thereto of one or more modular slidable member and mounting bracket combinations.

Another object yet of the present invention is to provide a set ofslidable members comprising a plurality of modular slidable member and mounting bracket combinations and wherein the sizes and types of the slidable members may be varied at the will of the'user thereof.

The invention comprises the hereinafter and hereinbefore described and illustrated modular slidable member and mounting bracket .combination as well as sets of slidable members comprising a plurality of the modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination herein described.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawing, which is incorporated herein by reference thereto, is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a modular slidable member and mounting bracketcombination of the invention in position for connection to another similar combination shown in phantom and to a flat surface or to an additional modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination, not illustrated, above said modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination.

FIG. 2 is a blown-up perspective viewofa-portion of the mounting bracket forming a .part of the modular slidable member and mounting bracketcombinationof the'present invention.

FIG. 3 is a blown-up cut away view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention, in the broad sense, consists of a modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination, comprising: a pair of facing brackets, each bracket comprising a side member; a lower lip extend- 0 ing inwardly from said side member along the lower longitudinal length thereof, said lower lip being attached to the bottom of said side member; an upper lip extending parallel to and of equal length to said lower lip, said upper lip extending on the same side of said side member as said lower lip and being attached at the top of said side member; at least two holes adapted for receiving attachment means extending through said upper lip, at least two holes adapted for receiving attachment means extending through said lower lip, the positions of said at least two holes in said lower lip being in alignment with the positions of said at least two holes in said upper lip; a guard lip similarly extending inwardly from said side member intermediate said upper and lower lip; an L shaped member extending substantially the length of said side member, said L shaped member being attached at one end thereof to said side member intermediate said guard lip and said lower lip, the surface of said L shaped member attached to said side member being perpendicular to said side member and parallel to said upper, lower, and guard lips, the other surface of said L shaped member being parallel to said side member, said L shaped member and said side member forming an opening facing towards said guard lip but stopping short thereof; and a slidable member mountable between said pair of facing brackets, said brackets being mounted with their inner surfaces in opposition, said slidable member having edges on each side thereof adapted to fit below said guard lip and into the opening formed by said L shaped member. By extending inwardly I means extending toward the slidable member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING The drawing describes an embodiment of the invention wherein the slidable member is a drawer. In this embodiment the guard lip is preferably situated closer to the upper lip than to the lower lip. In another embodiment, the slidable member is a shelf. In this other embodiment the guard lip can be situated closer to the lower lip than to the upper lip, thus providing a reasonable separation between shelves. It is also contemplated that drawers and shelves may be mounted interspersedwith one another in any desired order.

Referring to the drawing, the elements 10 and 11 represent the mounting brackets of the present invention and the article 25 represents the drawer in a preferred embodiment wherein said drawer is divided into three troughs 28, 29, and 30 and wherein each trough is further subdivided into compartments by walls 33, 34, 35, and 36. A second drawer, 25' along with brackets 10' and 11, etc., is shown, in phantom, in position for attachment to drawer 25 in'FIG. ,1.

The brackets l0, 10, II, and 11' form not only mounting brackets for the drawers 25 and 25' butalso framework members. For example, when 10 is connectedto l0 and 11 is connected to 11' via, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, nut and bolt combinations '37, a rigid framework is formed. Further, when brackets and 11 are connected to a horizontal surface using screws 38 inxholes 22 and'23 the horizontal surface in combination with the brackets 10, ll, 10', andv 11' form a relatively rigid combination. If an additional modular drawer and mounting bracket combination is to be mounted above drawer 25 and brackets 10 and 11, nut and bolt combinations 37 are used in holes 22 and 23 rather. than the screws 38. Alternatively, and not illustrated herein, a set of drawersmay be connected so as to go upwards from a flat horizontal surface instead of depending from said surface. Clearly in this case the screws 38 are used in the holes 24, one of which is shown in FIG. 2, and nut and bolt combinations are used between successive modular drawer mounting bracket combinations. If desired, a top surface can be attached to protect the contents of the top drawer. Usually, the drawers 25 and 25 would have handle means, not illustrated, attached to or integral with the fronts thereof.

As can be most readily seen from examination of FIG. 2, mounting bracket 10 comprises a side member 20, a lower lip 12, an upper lip 14, a guard lip 16, and an L shaped member 18. Further the upper lip 14 contains a plurality of holes 22 for attachment to a flat horizontal surface or to another modular drawer and mounting bracket combination. Similarly lower lip 12 contains holes 24 for connection to a flat horizontal surface or to another modular drawer and mounting bracket combination. As can be seen from FIG. 1, mounting bracket 11 is identical to mounting bracket 10 except that it is a mirror image thereof.

While a particular drawer is shown in the preferred embodiment, the invention is not meant to be limited to this particular drawer. For example, it is not necessary that the drawer 25 comprise a plurality of troughs 28, 29, and 30as shown or if it does comprise a plurality of troughs, it is not necessary that these troughs be further subdivided by the walls 33, 34, 35, and 36 as shown. When the drawer is so subdivided, however, it is preferred that the compartment between the back of the drawer and wall 36 be longer (along the trough) than the compartment between walls 36 and 35, which in turn is preferably longer than the compartment between walls 35 and 34, etc. When the drawer is subdivided into troughs, with or without further subdivision, it is preferred that the troughs have rounded bottoms so that the contents of the drawer can be more easily scooped out by hand.

Preferably the modular drawer and mounting bracket combination of the present invention is made of a plastic material. The mounting brackets may also be preferably be made of plastic although for strength considerations and if extremely heavy objects are to be stored within the drawers it will prove adviseable to construct the brackets and at times also the drawers of a stronger material, for example, steel, aluminum, or the like. 7 a

The edges 26 and 27 on drawer 25, as :can: be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, are adapted to fit below the guard lips 16 and 17 and into the openings formed by the L shaped members 18 and 19. The guard lips 16 and 17 perform a very useful task in the modular drawer and mounting bracket combination of the presentinvention in that they completely prevent the drawer 25 from scraping against any screws or the like, 38, or bolts or the like 37 which may extend through the upper lip 14.

Another advantage of the present invention is that the hobbyist is free to add drawers or shelves of any size which he desires to an already existing set of modular drawer and mounting bracket combinations. This can be very useful in that advanced planning of storage space is not required.

It is preferred, but not essential to the present invention, that the nut and bolt combination 37 use both a polygon shaped bolt and a polygon shaped nut head, preferably of equal size to minimize tools needed for assembly. if this is done, it is not necessary to insert a screwdriver between the upper lip 14 and the guard lip 16. Thus, assembly is much simplified. Other attachment means may, of course, be used in place of bolts and screws, e.g., glue or nails.

The foregoing disclosure of the invention is not to be considered as limiting since many variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the appended claims.

That which is claimed is:

l. A modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination, comprising:

a pair of facing brackets, each bracket comprising a side member, a lower lip extending inwardly from said side member along the lower longitudinal length thereof said lower lip being attached to the bottom of said side member, an upper lip extending parallel to and of equal length as said lower lip, said upper lip extending on the same side of said side member as said low-er lip and being attached at the top of said side member, at least two holes adapted for receiving attachment means extending through said upper lip, at least two holes adapted for receiving attachment means extending through said lower lip, the positions of said at least two holes in said lower lip being in alignment with the positions of said at least two holes in said upper lip, a guard lip similarly extending inwardly from said side member intermediate said upper and lower lips; an L shaped member extending substantially the length of said side member, said L shaped member being attached at one end thereof to said side member intermediate said guard lip and said lower lip, the surface of said L shaped member attached to said side member being perpendicular to said side member and parallel to said upper, lower, and guard lips, the other surface of said L shaped member being parallel to said side member, said L shaped member and said side member forming an opening facing toward said guard lip but stopping short thereof; and

a slidable member mountable between said pair of facing brackets, said brackets being mounted with their inner surfaces in opposition, said slidable member having edges on each side thereof adapted to fit below said guard lip and into the opening formed by said L shaped member.

2. A combination as in claim 1, wherein said slidable member is a drawer.

3. A combination as in claim 2, wherein said guard lip is situated closer to said upper lip than to said lower lip.

and brackets are formulated of a plastic material.

8. A combination as in claim 1, wherein said slidable member is a shelf.

9. A combination as in claim 8, wherein said guard lip is situated closer to said lower lip than to said upper lip.

10. A set of slidable members comprising a plurality of the modular combinations of claim 1 attached vertically to one another. 

1. A modular slidable member and mounting bracket combination, comprising: a pair of facing brackets, each bracket comprising a side member, a lower lip extending inwardly from said side member along the lower longitudinal length thereof said lower lip being attached to the bottom of said side member, an upper lip extending parallel to and of equal length as said lower lip, said upper lip extending on the same side of said side member as said lower lip and being attached at the top of said side member, at least two holes adapted for receiving attachment means extending through said upper lip, at least two holes adapted for receiving attachment means extending through said lower lip, the positions of said at least two holes in said lower lip being in alignment with the positions of said at least two holes in said upper lip, a guard lip similarly extending inwardly from said side member intermediate said upper and lower lips; an L shaped member extending substantially the length of said side member, said L shaped member being attached at one end thereof to said side member intermediate said guard lip and said lower lip, the surface of said L shaped member attached to said side member being perpendicular to said side member and parallel to said upper, lower, and guard lips, the other surface of said L shaped member being parallel to said side member, said L shaped member and said side member forming an opening facing toward said guard lip but stopping short thereof; and a slidable member mountable between said pair of facing brackets, said brackets being mounted with their inner surfaces in opposition, said slidable member having edges on each side thereof adapted to fit below said guard lip and into the opening formed by said L shaped member.
 2. A combination as in claim 1, wherein said slidable member is a drawer.
 3. A combination as in claim 2, wherein said guard lip is situated closer to said upper lip than to said lower lip.
 4. A combination as in claim 3, wherein said drawer is subdivided lengthwise into a plurality of troughs.
 5. A combination as in claim 4, wherein each of said troughs is subdivided widthwise into a plurality of compartments.
 6. A combination as in claim 5, wherein the compartments nearest the back of the drawer are longer lengthwise than are the compartments nearer to the front of the drawer.
 7. A combination as in claim 2, wherein the drawer and brackets are formulated of a plastic material.
 8. A combination as in claim 1, wherein said slidable member is a shelf.
 9. A combination as in claim 8, wherein said guard lip is situated closer to said lower lip than to said upper lip.
 10. A set of slidable members comprising a plurality of the modular combinations of claim 1 attached vertically to one another. 